Natural Resources Conservation Service

1
Natural Resources Conservation Service

• The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
  provides conservation planning and technical
  assistance to clients (individuals, groups, and
  units of government). These clients develop and
  implement conservation plans to protect,
  conserve, and enhance natural resources (soil,
  water, air, plants, and animals) within their
  related social and economic interests.
• Conservation planning is a natural resource
  problem- solving and management process. The
  process integrates ecological (natural resource),
  economic, and social considerations to meet
  private and public needs. This approach, which
  emphasizes identifying desired future conditions,
  improves natural resource management, minimizes
  conflict, and addresses problems and
  opportunities.

2
Natural Resources Conservation Service

• The success of conservation planning and
  implementation depends upon the voluntary
  participation of clients. The planning process
  used by NRCS is based on the premise that clients
  will make and implement sound decisions if they
  understand their resources, natural resource
  problems and opportunities, and the effects of
  their decisions.

3
NRCS Objective

• Conservation planning helps clients,
  conservationists, and others view the environment
  as a living system of which humans are an
  integral part. It enables clients and planners to
  analyze and work with complex natural processes
  in definable and measurable terms.
• The NRCS objective in conservation planning is
  the sound use and management of soil, water, air,
  plant, and animal resources to prevent their
  degradation and ensure their sustained use and
  productivity while also considering related human
  social and economic needs.

4
EQIP Program

• The Environmental Quality Incentives Program
  (EQIP) was reauthorized in the Farm Security and
  Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Farm Bill) to
  provide a voluntary conservation program for
  farmers and ranchers that promotes agricultural
  production and environmental quality as
  compatible national goals. EQIP offers financial
  and technical help to assist eligible
  participants install or implement structural and
  management practices on eligible agricultural
  land.

5
EQIP Program

• EQIP offers contracts with a minimum term that
  ends one year after the implementation of the
  last scheduled practices and a maximum term of
  ten years. These contracts provide incentive
  payments and cost-shares to implement
  conservation practices. Persons who are engaged
  in livestock or agricultural production on
  eligible land may participate in the EQIP
  program.
• EQIP activities are carried out according to an
  environmental quality incentives program plan of
  operations developed in conjunction with the
  producer that identifies the appropriate
  conservation practice or practices to address the
  resource concerns. The practices are subject to
  NRCS technical standards adapted for local
  conditions. The local conservation district
  approves the plan.

6
EQIP Program

• EQIP may cost-share up to 75 percent of the costs
  of certain conservation practices. Incentive
  payments may be provided for up to three years to
  encourage producers to carry out management
  practices they may not otherwise use without the
  incentive. However, limited resource producers
  and beginning farmers and ranchers may be
  eligible for cost-shares up to 90 percent.
  Farmers and ranchers may elect to use a certified
  third-party provider for technical assistance. An
  individual or entity may not receive, directly or
  indirectly, cost-share or incentive payments
  that, in the aggregate, exceed 450,000 for all
  EQIP contracts entered during the term of the
  Farm Bill.

7
CCPI Program

• The Cooperative Conservation Partnership
  Initiative (CCPI) is a voluntary program
  established to foster conservation partnerships
  that focus technical and financial resources on
  conservation priorities in watersheds and
  airsheds of special significance. Under CCPI,
  funds are awarded to State and local governments
  and agencies Indian tribes and non-governmental
  organizations that have a history of working with
  agricultural producers. The CCPI is a component
  of the Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA)
  program, established under authorities provided
  by the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment
  Act of 1935, 16 U.S.C. 590a et seq. NRCS
  administers CCPI.

8
Conservation of Natural Resources

• Air
• Soil
• Water
• Plants
• Animals
• Any natural resource

9
Special Programs

• There are many special programs that are targeted
  for each area. Check with your local NRCS office
  to find out more about the programs in your area